More than five decades after Denver said "thanks, but no thanks" to hosting the 1976 Winter Olympics, large numbers of Coloradans still feel ambivalent about going for gold.
That's the conclusion of new research by University of Colorado Boulder political scientist Samantha Register. In a new study, she found that self-identified Republicans and Independents in Colorado strongly oppose Denver entering another bid to host the Olympics-that is, if such a bid would cost taxpayer dollars.
The results come from the Colorado Political Climate Survey, an annual effort to gauge the pulse of the state on a number of issues. And politicians around the world may want to take note, said Register, a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science.
"If city organizers want to win public support for the Olympics," she said, "they're going to have to address: What exactly are the costs to the public, and make it clear why they think the costs will be worth it."
